Tarnishing bullets

[Robert B]

Not sure why the jacketed rounds in my cylinder are tarnishing. They ride in a leather holster. Chambers were cleaned by lead away patches, then M Pro 7, then dry patches. Safe has nitro solvent and gun oil in it. Am I storing the ammo in the wrong way? Live in air conditioning in AZ. Have not handled the copper part of the bullets. Not sure why the quick tarnishing has happened. What do you guys think?

 

[THEWELSHM]

Not sure why the jacketed rounds in my cylinder are tarnishing. They ride in a leather holster. Chambers were cleaned by lead away patches, then M Pro 7, then dry patches. Safe has nitro solvent and gun oil in it. Am I storing the ammo in the wrong way? Live in air conditioning in AZ. Have not handled the copper part of the bullets. Not sure why the quick tarnishing has happened. What do you guys think?[/

Did you oil? Mine get tarnished when I use gun oil and put in safe.

thewelshm

 

[Gunhacker]

Not sure why the jacketed rounds in my cylinder are tarnishing. They ride in a leather holster.

What do you mean by "they ride in a leather holster"?

Ever see what leather holsters or knife sheaths do to the brass hardware on them.. the green "fuzz" that forms?

When I carried my .45 Colt rounds in the cartridge loops on the gun belt, the copper jackets (and brass cases) used to tarnish quickly.

 

[Laketime]

Clean them with Flitz., should prevent them from retarnishing

 

[Rpg]

What possible difference could it make?

Maybe fun to speculate.

We probably have too much time on our hands.

 

[fredj338]

Just contact with moisture or moist air will tarnish copper & brass.

 

[MichiganScott]

Just contact with moisture or moist air will tarnish copper & brass.

When they tarnish, shoot them. Reload the pistol, repeat as necessary.

 

[chief38]

Copper will naturally dull and tarnish after being handled. Laketime above recommended Flitz to remove it if you like and that will work. Keep the FLitz away from the Primer area while doing so. NOTE: Tarnishing will in no way affect performance.

I would NOT leave any chemicals in a gun safe! I also do not store ammo in their either; it gets locked up separately.

 

[KEN L]

Just contact with moisture or moist air will tarnish copper & brass.

In Arizona? Really?!!

 

[Pef]

Same thing has happened with some Hornady rounds I carry in my 637. After a couple of years they were quite tarnished - brass and jacket both. Finally shot them and they performed fine, of course. I replaced them with a fresh load, and, lo and behold, after a couple of months they are tarnishing.

 

[ironhead7544]

You could polish them and then coat with a thin clear paint. Wax will probably work OK.

 

[jdlii]

A couple of years ago a friend of mine gave me an interesting present for my birthday. He had placed almost 500 .45 cap/230gr. bullets in an empty 1.75 liter, George Dickel bottle. Although he had rinsed it out, the remaining residue from the alcohol turned the copper jacketed bullets flat black in color.

It looked like they had been moly coated. They looked great, especially in nickel cases, and shot just as well as "regular" copper jacketed.

 

[gwpercle]

I think the leather is doing something, giving off slight fumes or something that tarnishes the copper.
Have a Randall Made Knife, with a brass hilt , that I carry in it's leather sheath...can't keep the hilt from tarnishing where it touches the brass. Nickel silver hilts don't tarnish, brass does every time.

I have tried coating the hilt with paste wax, grease, oil and dry silicone spray....none of that works.

Turning the brass hilt black might be the answer, just have to figure out how to get that Randall Knife into the whiskey bottle!

Gary

 

[arjay]

It's probably caused by the chemicals used to tan leather off gassing from the holster.Copper and brass tarnish quickly,even in a dry climate.I wouldn't worry about it.